Ceramic body



Patented July 27, 1954 ma Qn George Dreher, Pittsburgh, Pa.

-QD Wi Ke nnl qn Au u t 950 'Serial No. 182,624;

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*Irimetallurgical testing, the carbon and sul- 1 may be determined by a'shallow'eloni 'iis i lr e-J. h me ellm': gic'alai't. "Improved forms ofsuchc h i m qp i l fi i t' l9 l8l novvPatent"No. a1 No. "1391045; "filed J anuaiy iit 2,616,107? The comemisamfn t'o'be tested is tube wlthln an electric fur; nace and heated toa' hightefniaefatui'e," "usually in the order of about 25OQ F. or higher for'inost ijireiigmit'rials""An-exiqizi g medium is: then "th'pu gh 1e t'fibe tdfburfi thcarbon and maths "end-pro ucts of combustion are: 13' at as thereby 'determinethe artan and r contentofthenietalfi' emperatu s and-oxidizing atmospheres encountered make ceramicireiractoryfmaterials useful for "the construction of combustion'boats of the character referred to. However, most re fract'oryfnatefialshavepoor thernial shock characteristicsrendering 'thrn" unsuitable for this purpose. In addition, those refractory bodies which Have highly" porous" structure are unsuitable for se-asiccmbust oni o ts; P910 bodies are unsuitable for the reason that the metal .Will

159W the pores thereo'f,'"""nd the carbon'aiid ap th "j pletely liberated, uh otheridimi. g. acteristic's and i fii'cult' firing "characteristics are "frequently encountered in ceraniic bodi'stvhich' otherwise have satisifactory thermal shock characteristics and lowromsi r.se la qrthepurpgse- As indicat e on e o i the principal objects of this invention is to provid'e aniniproved ceramic body which is ideally suitedfor the ,con struction of combustion boats, and which is superior in all respects. The ceramic body of this invention has been found to have much better thermal shock characteristics than other bodies commonly used in the manufacture of combustion boats, and can be fabricated so that it has no significant porosity. In addition, the body has strength to withstand the rugged treatment to 2 Claims. (Cl. 106 5 7) 2'! which ceramic boats are'subjected, and it avoids the undesirable molding and'firing characteristics of As will become iapparentfthe refractory con position of this invention consists essentially of the ma i ls i coni rdie h is 'o tdis it being present in varying percentages up to about" wei ht .z n cr tecontent0i the body, The' porosi ty of thejbody decreases, as will be pointed out, with increases in the cordierite content in amounts up 'toiab'o'utzo %"."Inci easing the cordierite"content' 'beyorid th""30'%; 5oint"resuits in njdnoticabl'e advant ge rom the'stena: p'o'i'nt ofporo'sity' change; 'but'has teen "foundto havethe disadvantage of narrowing' the"firirig range- I" x The composition may be formed by using the c'ordi'rit '(2MgO- 2A1z'03 1 SSiQ'ZT'as such," but (A'lzowzsiozg znzo g 'anaam'mina (A ton which combine "upon firing t'o for'fn 'cordiei ite',' may be employed. These materials on "firing" combine as follows:

ie iQt e-iil iis W QfidiQ l Themolecularvweights, less water ofcrystalliza iv a ollow pulverized beforemiiiing with"thbthefordieiite forming materials." The pulverized' calcin'd clay is added :inaccordan'ce with: the above formula; 7 molecules of calcined clay being added to the alumina and talc as indicated above. Where calcined clay is used, the firing cycle is reduced and the body may be sintered in an hour or less. Instead of using calcined clay, pulverized alumina and silica may be used in the proportions indicated above, that is, 7 mols. of alumina and 14 material; heretofore known for the purpose l 3 mols. of silica may be substituted for the 7 mols. of calcined clay, and in such case, the advantages with respect to reduced time of firing cycle are retained.

On the basis of 100 parts by weight of zircon and cordierite, or zircon and cordierite-forming materials, the materials are mixed in the proportion of 70-100 parts by weight of zircon and -30 parts cordierite or cordierite-forming materials. As pointed out above, a greater proportion of cordierite may be employed, but will not result in any noticeable advantage as will be explained in greater detail below. To this mixture, there is added a suitable binder. The mixture is then pressed to the form or shape desired and fired to sinter the materials.

The following table lists several examples of the invention prepared as explained above:

In the examples of the invention given in the above table, the cordierite was produced by the use of cordierite-forming materials using silica and alumina in place of clay or calcined clay in the proportions given above. In all examples the mix with binder therein was granulated and dried to remove the water, and after pressing to form was fired at 2600 F. for about one hour. In addition, many bodies have been made using clay and calcined clay as part of the cordierite-forming materials, and such bodies gave equally good results.

As indicated in the above table, all examples exhibited. high resistance to thermal shock. Specimens corresponding to these examples were tested for thermal shock by heating to above 2700 F. and then cooling by quenching in water, which the specimens withstood successfully. It will also be noted that the porosity of the body decreased as the cordierite content increased, and that all significant porosity disappeared when approximately 20 parts cordierite was used. The condition of no porosity in combustion boats is very desirable, as there will be no penetration of the metal into the ceramic body under this condition. Example 9 thus represents a preferred example of the invention since it is at this point that porosity disappears. Increasing the cordierite content beyond 20 parts as in Examples 10 and. 11 does not result in any additional benefits, although bodies with such increased content will have the same desirable features as one containing only parts cordierite. In the field of special utility of the invention, namely, in combustion boats, it will be noted from the above table that the lower limit of cordierite-containing materials is given by Example 7, or 15% cordierite. At about this point, the porosity of the body becomes noticeably low and may be used as a combustion boat in metallurgical testing. Accordingly, in the field of special utility of the invention, the range of cordierite or cordierite-containing materials may be given at about 15% or from approximately 15% to approximately 30%, and this range of cordierite represents the preferred practice of the invention.

In the formation of the bodies, the use of cordierite-forming materials gives an advantage in that the talc in such materials acts as a lubricant for the other particles during the molding operation and thus facilitates molding of the article.

From the foregoing, it will be apparent that the cordierite-zircon body of this invention has desirable thermal shock characteristics and a controllable porosity. Ordinarily, the combination of two ceramic compositions into a single body cannot be expected to result in a body having high thermal shock characteristics. Contrary to expectation, this is not the case with the body of this invention, and there is provided a body having improved thermal shock characteristics with a porosity rendering it suitable for use in the fabrication of combustion boats. Moreover, a body produced as described above can be made to have the non-porous characteristics of a cordierite body without the difiicult firing characteristics of cordierite bodies, and at the same time provides thermal shock resistivity at least as good as zircon bodies, but without the porosity of zircon bodies.

Having thus described the invention with particular reference to the preferred practice, and having referred to certain modifications, it will be obvious to those skilled in the art that other changes and modifications may be made within the scope of the appended claims.

I claim:

1. A ceramic composition comprising a shaped and fired ceramic body consisting essentially of zircon and cordierite in the range of about 15 to 30% by weight of cordierite and to by weight of zircon, and having high thermal shock resistance and being substantially non-porous.

2. A fired refractory ceramic body having high thermal shock characteristics consisting essentially of zircon and cordierite in the range of about 7.5 to 30 per cent by weight of cordierite and 70 to 92.5 per cent by weight of zircon.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,682,251 Riddle Aug. 28, 1928 2,277,705 Kinzie et al Mar. 31, 1942 2,454,121 Baker et al Nov. 16, 1948 2,511,679 Thiess June 13, 1950 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 396,532 Great Britain 1933 OTHER REFERENCES Ceramic Industry, January 1945, page 85. 

1. A CERAMIC COMPOSITION COMPRISING A SHAPED AND FIRED CERAMIC BODY CONSISTING ESSENTIALLY OF ZIRCOIN AND CORDIERITE IN THE RANGE OF ABOUT 15 TO 30% BY WEIGHT OF CORDIERITE AND 70 TO 85% BY WEIGHT OF ZIRCON, AND HAVING HIGH THERMAL SHOCK RESISTANCE AND BEING SUBSTANTIALLY NON-POROUS. 